Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf balls. Specifically, the present invention relates to golf balls including a core and a cover.
Description of the Related Art
In golf, golf balls are hit with a wood type club, an iron type club, a hybrid type club (utility), and a putter, etc. Feel at impact upon hitting is of interest to golf players. Generally, golf players prefer golf balls having soft feel at impact.
Meanwhile, golf players also place importance on flight performance upon shots with drivers. The flight performance correlates with the resilience performance of a golf ball. When a golf ball having excellent resilience performance is hit, the golf ball flies at a high speed, thereby achieving a large flight distance, but the feel provided to the golf player at impact is generally hard. In light of achieving both desired flight performance and desired feel at impact upon a shot with a driver, a golf ball having a multilayer cover has been proposed.
For example, JP2013-248262 and JP2013-9916 disclose golf balls each including a core and a cover having two or more layers. These golf balls have a feature in which the innermost layer of the cover has a JIS-C hardness equal to or less than the JIS-C hardness at the surface of the core.
There is still room for improvement for achievement in both desired flight performance and desired feel at impact upon a shot with a driver. Furthermore, similar to shots with drivers, golf players desire a large flight distance even at the second shot in par-four holes and par-five holes.
In play by beginners, the frequency of a mishit upon putting is also high. With a golf ball having soft feel at impact, the response felt in the hands upon putting is small, so that it may be difficult to grasp a sense of distance to the cup. In particular, in putting in which the distance between a golf ball and a cup is short, a beginner tends to hit the ball with weaker force than necessary, due to fear of excessive hitting, so that insufficient hitting often occurs. Golf balls that have proper feel at impact upon putting and with which a sense of distance is easily adjusted are desired.
An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball that has excellent flight performance and feel at impact and that allows a sense of distance to be easily adjusted upon putting.